There was a song from the 1920's called 'I Love Me' which has this hilarious line:

"At a movie show I take myself right by my arm and push me through the crowd and listen to myself repeat the titles right out loud."

It made me wonder if the audience were cautioned to keep quiet during the silent movie. Were there rules at picture houses which forbid the audience to "repeat the titles right out loud"? I'm sure it was a habit that was hard to break. Here is the song.

My grandfather was a teenager in the 1920's and used to bring scissors to the picture house and on several occassions he trimmed the large feathers off the ladies hats in front. Wonder if there was a rule for men and women to remove their hats? He also remembered the screen had a yellow tint because there were so many people smoking and the projection light had a yellow glare or mist coming through it. Great place to watch the newsreels if you did not have a television, and you could stay in your seat and watch the film again, although there was always a stampede for the exit when the national anthem came on at the end of the picture.

In the early days (pre-1910s, and maybe a bit later), there seem to have been title cards before a show reminding ladies to "REMOVE HATS." At least if certain old comic strips of the time (Bringing Up Father, etc) are to be believed.